The Chicago Blackhawks are last in the league and many may wonder what if a number of the moves to trade or let walk in free agency wouldn’t have happened. The Blackhawks’ fingerprints are all over the league making their mark while Chicago has a record of 14-26-2 and are in a rebuild.
Yes, the Blackhawks have Connor Bedard and some other talented young players because of how things have gone for the organization, but are currently losing, not winning. Hindsight is 20/20, but some of the moves were just bad at the time and almost everybody knew it.
The End of a Nice Run in Chicago
Do you remember what Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin were able to do together for Panarin’s fantastic first two seasons in the NHL? How about the line of Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and Dylan Strome soon after that? It could have been avoided and the Blackhawks enjoy a number of great players together without having to go through a rebuild.
Related: Blackhawks Choice of Not Qualifying Dylan Strome Keeps Looking Worse
I mentioned Kane, Panarin, DeBrincat, and Strome, but here’s what the Blackhawks would not have gotten if the team didn’t move on from them. Kane got a weak return of Andy Welinski, Vili Saarijarvi, 2023 2nd round pick (Martin Misiak), and a 2025 5th round pick from the New York Rangers after the Blackhawks had already moved his linemates prior and the team was diving into a rebuild.
Panarin, along with Tyler Motte and a 2017 6th round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg, and 2018 5th round pick were acquired by the Blackhawks. This is one of the bad moves that was clear as day from the start.
Trading DeBrincat got the Blackhawks 2022 1st round (Kevin Korchinski), 2022 3rd round (Paul Ludwinski), 2024 3rd round (AJ Spellacy), so it wasn’t bad, but in terms of what is helping right now, it’s nothing as Korchinski has spent the majority of the season in the AHL and the other two prospects haven’t seen the NHL yet.
As for Strome, well he wasn’t qualified as an RFA and hit free agency as a UFA, only to have three great seasons since leaving for nothing.
Gone Too Soon
The two players in particular who were gone too soon were Gustav Forsling and Brandon Hagel. Both could have easily been avoided. In 2019, at age 22, Forsling was traded from the Blackhawks along with Anton Forsberg to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela. Not long after that, Forsling hit waivers and was claimed by the Florida Panthers where he has been a key defenseman for the past four seasons, including hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Related: Blackhawks Could Soon Get Big Payoff From Brandon Hagel Trade
Hagel did not need to be traded. He was only 23 years old and had just put up back-to-back 20-goal seasons with the Blackhawks. The team did get a 2023 1st round pick (Oliver Moore), 2024 1st round pick (traded to upgrade for Sacha Boisvert), Boris Katchouk, and Taylor Raddysh, but included two 2022 4th round picks with Hagel when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A rebuilding team would do well with having a 23-year-old rising star to eventually help pull them from the bottom of the league, but that wasn’t the case. It was made tougher on Chicago by taking chances on not yet drafted players when Hagel is now only 26 years old and thriving.
5 Other Former Blackhawks Who Could’ve Made a Difference
Along with all the stars I’ve mentioned, the Blackhawks could have also used former players like Nick Schmaltz, Anthony Duclair, Kevin Lankinen, Max Domi, and Jake McCabe.
Combining all of the returns for those five players, the Blackhawks collected a 2025 1st round pick, 2025 2nd round, 2026 2nd round pick, Dylan Strome, Joey Anderson, Pavel Gogolev, Brendan Perlini, and Anton Khudobin. Duclair and Lankinen walked in free agency and the Blackhawks also sent Sam Lafferty, Dylan Wells, a 2024 5th round pick, and a 2025 5th round pick out in those other three deals.
Of course, at this stage, the Blackhawks would likely not be able to have every single one of these players they moved for something or let walk for nothing, but the team would more than likely be succeeding and have a very entertaining team that wasn’t in last place in the NHL.
There can be a lot of looking back and thinking what if with a team like Chicago because of all of the questionable moves and decisions made, but the hope if that it will all be worth it in the end and this next crop of talent can pull the Blackhawks out of the depths of the league and hoist the Stanley Cup again.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game day coverage, player features, and more.
Recent Blackhawks News
Related: Connor Bedard’s Point Streak Reaches 9; Blackhawks Lose To Red Wings
Related: Blackhawks Legend Patrick Kane Looks Like Himself Again
